For-profit schools--also known as proprietary schools--received over $16 billion in federal loans, grants, and campus-based aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act in 2007/08. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to determine (1) how the student loan default profile of proprietary schools compares with that of other types…

The Higher Education Technical Corrections (Public Law 111-39) was put in place to make technical corrections to the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. The table of contents for this Act is as follows: (1) Sec. 1. Table of contents; (2) Sec. 2. References; and (3) Sec. 3. Effective date. (A) Title I--General Provisions: (4) Sec.…

This article analyzes rural middle school students' tracking intentions (academic high school, vocational high school, or going to work), actual education choices, and the factors affecting them, using a random sampled baseline survey and follow-up survey of 2,216 second-year students residing outside of county seats in forty-one impoverished…

This paper discusses the challenges college students with children face, as well as the steps colleges, universities, and the surrounding communities must take to help students succeed in their work as both students and parents. The role of parenthood in postsecondary settings needs greater focus from the higher education reform community. Unless…

This AIR Data Brief examines where STEM and SBE majors are earning their degrees and what these students typically pay for their undergraduate education, with special emphasis on underrepresented minority populations. Students are seeking more affordable options, the brief finds, but student loan debt is a growing concern for broaden participation…

Concerns over college costs and student debt are at an all-time high. This AIR Data Brief looks into the impact that certain types of institutes, and degree programs (STEM or SBE sciences) can have on a student's potential debt load, particularly among students who are underrepresented in the STEM fields. This data brief is the second of four in…

While undergraduates in the STEM and SBE fields tend to accumulate considerable student loan debt, this AIR Data Brief finds the opposite is true for many individuals pursuing doctorates in the sciences. Early debt accumulation at the undergraduate level can have dramatic implications for participation in advanced degrees, the brief explains. This…

Despite increases in postsecondary enrollment at American universities and colleges, there are still significant gaps in who matriculates to college and persists through graduation. Low-income students and students of color continue to be underrepresented in institutions of higher education; for many of these students, a lack of awareness of…

During the past decade, Black male students have been enrolling in college in growing numbers. They have also been dropping out of college, prior to graduation, in high numbers. These trends have generated concern among educators and policymakers about the economic future of the Black community. Despite these concerns, most of the research on this…

Federal need based financial aid receipt and remedial course load were the central foci of an integrated model designed to predict six-year bachelor's degree attainment. Data represented 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) respondents who graduated from high school in 2003 and enrolled the same year as full time…

The study reviewed in this paper examined the impact of offering financial aid informational materials on the postsecondary expectations of high school students. Approximately 5,000 students from five low-achieving high schools in Ontario, Canada, were invited to complete an online survey about their postsecondary aspirations. About 1,600 students…

We discuss a simple model of intergenerational transfers with one-sided altruism: parents care about their child but the child does not reciprocate. Parents and children make investments in the child's education, investments for other purposes, and parents can transfer cash to their child. We show that for an identifiable set of parent-child…

The Obama administration has no plans to renew the Bush-era competitiveness grants and their companion, the National Smart Grants, beyond their 2011 expiration date, meaning a likely end for America's short-lived experiment with merit-based federal financial aid. Instead, the administration will focus its resources on the popular Pell Grant…

The 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico took advantage of the nation's strong economy during the 2007-8 budget year and spent a total of nearly $10-billion on student aid. That was an increase of 6.6 percent from the year before when adjusted for inflation, according to an annual report released this week by the National…

Each year, more than a million young people in the United States experience homelessness; some of these young people, known as unaccompanied homeless youth, will face the challenges of homelessness while living on their own without the support of a caring adult. Unaccompanied homeless youth face the same struggles as other young people: trying to…